With great effort, Yu Hong committed to memory the essential techniques of the leg method.
He rose to his feet, striking poses as he attempted to train.
The training was quite simple, consisting of three moves divided into three levels.
The first move focused solely on low leg sweeps, targeting the opponent's calves.
It seemed perfectly suited to Yu Hong, as he practiced smoothly, each motion blending seamlessly with his habitual movements.
However, he needed to visualize while practicing.
Everything went smoothly after that.
Day after day, Yu Hong practiced the high body method and the first leg move, from dawn till dusk.
It wasn't until a week later that Li Runshan had harvested some fresh mushrooms.
They traded for a bit of the bounty, mixing it with other ingredients to make soup, which tasted much better, prompting a brief pause in training.
In the courtyard of the stone house at the post office, the sky was filled with thick clouds, and rain seemed imminent.
Yu Hong and Li Runshan stood amid the yard, inspecting a thick, yellow paste that had turned into a clumpy mud on the ground.
“This is nearing completion,” Li Runshan said, satisfied as he set down his wooden stick. “Next comes the cockroach breeding. Cockroaches breed quickly and lay plenty of eggs; one egg case can yield dozens. They grow fat quickly as well. I brought a fair number of egg cases, which will come in handy.”
“What are the main ingredients in here?” Yu Hong asked, wrinkling his nose.
“Mushroom scraps, some moss I found, roots, fruits from oily plants, and manure,” Li Runshan said casually. “Just like growing mushrooms requires adding a bit of wood chips, breeding cockroaches needs extra materials too. Otherwise, it'll be hard to raise them well.”
Yu Hong's expression turned wooden.
Originally, he considered rearing some himself, but now realized he wouldn't venture into that until they had dug out the single room.
“I understand now why everyone prefers eating lizards,” he sighed.
“Yes, there's a huge difference between eating directly and indirectly,” Li Runshan chuckled.
He glanced at Yu Hong and continued, “How's your training going? Make sure to eat, drink, and sleep well. Just practicing without paying attention to these can harm your health and tire your body.”
“Everything's fine. I sleep for ten hours every day, and I eat enough. There's no problem at all. But when will you teach me how to use the slingshot?” Yu Hong inquired.
“Let’s wait a bit. Just make your own slingshot first. I can provide you with some elastic bands. You can practice on your own then.”
Li Runshan warmly smiled. “Also, I plan to go to the obsidian mine in a few days. Are you familiar with it?”
“Not really,” Yu Hong frowned.
“Then how did you get those large pieces of obsidian? You might fool others, but not me,” Li Runshan laughed.
Yu Hong fell silent; he had now trained up four rivers of cool energy in the high body method.
His leg technique, having focused solely on one move, was slowly starting to yield results after a week's relentless effort.
He trained diligently from dawn till dusk, beside attending to the essentials like food and water, while gathering firewood and vegetables; his mind was fully invested in the leg technique.
The black ink continued to strengthen the silver talisman formation, and now he had four pieces, including one already made, not counting the one at the back of his door.
The great advantage of the silver talisman formation was that it could restore itself after use, allowing for subsequent applications when it was complete.
He had a multitude of ordinary talismans, even he had lost count, but whenever he had free time, he would strengthen them, leaving them in the corner.
Ordinary talismans were consumables and could not be replenished; once they were used, they were damaged.
Luckily, they were quick to reinforce, making them quite useful in emergencies.
“Large pieces of obsidian can handle shadow phantoms, but for malevolent shadows, they're insufficient. You need to stack them in numbers,” Yu Hong said solemnly.
“You're right. The main use of large obsidian isn’t really against malevolent shadows; they mostly serve as additives or catalysts in the production of other items. Ever since the black disaster was discovered a few years ago and the Silver Tower was established, the sunlight series has become truly precious.” Li Runshan’s habitual smile returned. “I’ll soon have materials from the sunlight series, which are perfect for dispelling ordinary blood tides, hiding one’s presence from shadow phantoms. Even malevolent shadows can be resisted for some time as long as you power them.”
“The sunlight series really is that powerful?” Yu Hong was somewhat skeptical.
“The first targets of the black disaster were Hope City, and the malevolent shadows as well; there are even many creatures way stronger than the usual blood tides. Do you think the country has been able to hold on without reason?” Li Runshan spoke matter-of-factly. “The issues faced in large places outnumber your imagination.”
“By the way, when will the supply team arrive?” Yu Hong finally asked.
“Tomorrow. That’s what they informed us, but I’m not certain of the exact time. If you have enough materials for trade, feel free to come to me. We can swap for some food and useful tools,” Li Runshan replied.
Yu Hong nodded and turned to leave, having come mainly to check on the cockroach cultivation.
Now that everything was proceeding well, he felt at ease.
Returning swiftly to the safety of the cave, he trained a bit more in the leg method and the high body method before deciding to strengthen something new.
Standing at the mouth of the cave, he grasped a saw and an axe and began crafting thick wooden planks bit by bit.
These planks weren’t for talismans but for constructing a barrel-like body protection gear.
While he couldn’t yet manage a cylindrical shape, it was certainly easier to find a large tree and fell it.
However, this task was too challenging and split easily with his attempts.
So, if the supply team arrived tomorrow, he planned to barter with other items for body armor or similar equipment.
After working for a while in woodworking, Yu Hong returned to the cave, confirming the talisman formation had successfully reinforced once again, yielding an additional ordinary talisman.
Then, he took out all the items he could still strengthen, placing the most important ones upfront: a solar-powered generator, a dagger, a handgun, and a pair of boots.
He selected the boots first, noting that they were women's waterproof boots, hard-wearing, perhaps worn by someone named Jenny.
Upon examining the dagger, he began to form an idea.
He set the two aside and pressed his hand down.
“Strengthen my spiked boots, direction.”
The image of spiked boots, with sharp blades extending from the toes, surfaced vividly in his mind from the martial arts movies he had seen.
Soon, the black ink provided feedback. “Would you like to strengthen the spiked boots?”
Such feedback generally indicated that the black ink could indeed perform the strengthening.
It wasn't due to a lack of completeness.
Yu Hong felt a wave of relief wash over him as he glanced at the countdown on the boots: 1 day, 3 hours, 5 minutes.
“The timing is just fine.” He confirmed the feedback in his mind.
The countdown began ticking downwards; meanwhile, the boots and dagger flickered momentarily, and numbers appeared on the surface.
“This implies that items kept together can also utilize the black ink for synthesis strengthening. This is an extra synthesis feature.”
Yu Hong contemplated thoughtfully. “If combining for synthesis is possible, that would greatly widen its utility.”
After sleeping in the cave for a short while, he rose once more to practice the leg technique.
The leg technique he had strengthened was aptly named "Heavy Leg Technique."
Such a simple name clearly reflected its essence.
In the cave, Yu Hong continued to sweep his left and right legs forward repeatedly, visualizing the diagram from the manual simultaneously.
He controlled the flow of cool energy within him, directing it along the veins as illustrated in the diagram.
Initially, it wasn’t very smooth, but after practicing for a whole week, his movements came more easily together.
This leg technique was entirely designed around his physical and mental state, progressing very swiftly.
Now he could faintly sense the fifth stream of cool energy within him slowly gathering, predicting it wouldn’t be long before it would consolidate successfully.
Before long, after a meal, Yu Hong began chiseling stone again.
As the day turned dim, he resumed practicing the Heavy Leg Technique.
“The first move of the Heavy Leg Technique, which is the first level, requires practice to the point where I can summon the cool energy at any moment and unleash it instantly. The meridian diagram must also completely coordinate with each leg strike.”
With a flame illuminating the cave, Yu Hong stood bare-chested, deep in thought.
After standing for about five minutes, he suddenly snapped his right leg forward, making a diagonal kick.
Swish!
It felt as if there were an opponent before him, the outer side of the calf precisely struck.
This low sweep was still standard, with speed and strength only at the level of an ordinary male.
Next, Yu Hong retracted his leg and fiercely swept again.
Thump.
This time, his eyes went vacant, and a fine line surged along his abdominal skin, swiftly flowing into his right leg.
This low sweep was considerably faster than the previous.
It even stirred the air, creating a subtle rush of wind.
“The strength and speed have notably increased. This is the result of a single cool energy's drive. Now, let’s see what happens when I try with two streams.”
Yu Hong closed his eyes again and attempted the previous kick.
After remaining still for a few minutes, he suddenly swept his right leg forward again.
Thump!!
The cave echoed a thundering sound, the impact considerably louder than before.
The whoosh of air was far more powerful than it had been earlier.
Yu Hong opened his eyes, showing signs of fatigue.
“Using two streams of cool energy indeed greatly enhances power, but it requires full concentration to mobilize. It's not as convenient as using just one stream.”
He tried again for the third time, executing the leg technique with that last stream of cool energy.
Swish!
This, too, was substantially faster than before.
However, he had now depleted all four streams of cool energy.
It would take at least half a day to recuperate for them to gather anew.
“Energy consumption is too rapid. I should be able to test the potency tomorrow,” Yu Hong thought, his gaze shifting to the soon-to-be strengthened spiked boots, a glint of anticipation in his eyes.
That night, he peacefully slept once more.
At the break of dawn the next day, he rose and headed to the post office stone house, eager to see the supply team.
Before even reaching, he observed a middle-aged man with a large backpack chatting with Li Runshan in the distance.
This man sported a full beard, his hair tousled, and though slightly slimmer than Li Runshan, he exuded an inexplicable air of competence.
Standing a few meters from Li Runshan, he maintained a relatively safe distance outside the fence.
When he saw Yu Hong coming, Li Runshan was the first to excitedly wave.
“Xiao Yu, come quickly! This is Old Zhou, who has come with the supply team and plans to settle here.”
Old Zhou?
Yu Hong nodded, directing his gaze onto this Old Zhou.
“Hello, I’m Yu Hong, the local supplier of obsidian. If you need any, you can come find me to trade.”
Obsidian manufacturer—that was the identity he had set for himself.
Since last time the protein bars caused such a stir with Li Runshan, he had become increasingly cautious, unwilling to sell any of the items he had strengthened.
Selling a few could still be brushed off as luck in discovering stock, but more than that would be troublesome.
Instead, the strengthened large obsidian could, at least, be ground into powder.
Once turned into ordinary talismans and offered for sale, it’d be much safer.
After all, many could grind obsidian into powder and draw talismans, but the distinction lay in it being a consumable requiring time and energy to produce.
Even doing it oneself might not match others’ quality.
“As long as my talismans are a notch stronger than others, I can keep my business stable and flourishing,” Yu Hong plotted in his mind.
Simply selling large obsidian was too wasteful; talismans were much more convenient with their lighter weight and better effectiveness.
(End of Chapter)